‘That’ll do nicely. I hope it’s not bad news.’ He pulled out a chair.

‘No, it’s the most wonderful news. But please don’t be hard on me. It’s been a difficult day, a difficult month, to tell the truth, and I can’t describe how relieved I am now that it’s over.’

Her father looked horrified. ‘Have I missed something? Just tell me it’s got nothing to do with your health?’

‘No,’ she said again, patting the back of his hand. ‘In fact, I’ve never been better.’ She passed him a beer, sat opposite him and poured herself a glass of wine. ‘You remember what happened just after Mum died, Dad?’

He stared at her, clearly not wanting to bring up the past. ‘’Ere, Shelly, let’s not go over all that. What’s past is past.’

‘No, Dad, I need to say it. A year after Mum died, I had a baby.’ Her father’s face stiffened. ‘A little boy, DJ, David John. He was David’s son and I gave him up for adoption.’ Shelly nodded. ‘His father, David, was my first boyfriend. My only real boyfriend and I loved him very much. DJ was our baby. A beautiful, blue-eyed baby that I have never stopped loving. But David never saw our child, did he? DJ was born after the accident, remember.’

Gordon stood and went over to the kitchen cupboard, pushed the sugar and flour aside and pulled out an old bottle of whisky. ‘I need a proper drink,’ he said. He poured a good measure, took it over to the window. Standing with his back to the room, he stared out at the dusk.

‘I need to go over it, Dad. I know it’s difficult, but will you please listen? It’s important to me, and I’m not sure exactly how much you remember.

‘It was the week before school went back from the holidays. There was nothing much to do, I had good exam results and you agreed that I should go back to school and take my A levels, then go to university and train to be a vet. I was passionate about it. My boyfriend, David, and his friends, Simon and Roger, were going scuba diving to Paros in Greece for a week. Roger came down with shingles . . . or mumps, I can’t remember. Anyway, he couldn’t go. He said if I paid to change the name on the ticket, I could have it.’ She looked over at her father. ‘I told you there was a trip to Greece for the sixth formers and you said I could I go.’